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Posted on: September 8, 2017

Syosset Man Sentenced to Six Years in Prison for Impersonating Federal Air Marshal

MINEOLA, N.Y. – Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas announced that a Syosset man arrested in Dec. 2015 for impersonating a federal air marshal and who was found with multiple weapons in his car and home was sentenced today to six years in prison and five years’ post-release supervision. The NCDA recommended a sentence of 15 years in prison.

Mark Vicars, 51, pleaded guilty on January 25 before Supreme Court Justice William Donnino to three counts of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the 2nd Degree (a C violent felony) and one count of Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument in the 2nd Degree (a D felony).

“This defendant possessed an arsenal of illegal weapons as he impersonated a federal air marshal,” DA Singas said. “I thank the Nassau County Police Department, Joint Terrorism Task Force and the TSA for making sure this potentially dangerous individual stays off the streets for many years to come.”

DA Singas said that Nassau County Police Department Special Investigation Squad detectives, working with the New York office of the Joint Terrorism Task Force and the Transportation Security Administration, initiated a traffic stop of the defendant on Jericho Turnpike in Syosset on Dec. 3, 2015. Vicars pulled over and activated emergency lights on his 2014 Dodge Durango. The defendant produced a fraudulent shield and credentials that identified him as a federal air marshal. Vicars was found to be in possession of a loaded .380 pistol and a knife. A loaded assault rifle, ballistic body armor, a tactical vest, several high capacity magazines and hundreds of rounds of ammunition were found in the back seat of the car.

After obtaining a search warrant at the defendant’s home, detectives recovered more weapons and approximately 8,300 rounds of ammunition.

The defendant pleaded guilty to illegally possessing an AR-15 assault rifle, a Ruger pistol, a Smith and Wesson revolver, a Springfield Armory pistol, a Sig Sauer pistol and two Glock pistols.

Assistant District Attorneys Rachel Lasry and Elizabeth Shumejda of DA Singas’ County Court Trial Bureau are prosecuting the case. Vicars is represented by Gregory LaMarca, Esq.